Data visualization: Pathway to better customer insight

SM Marketing Convergence Inc. (SM-MCI), an affiliate of SM Retail Group, operates one of the largest customer loyalty programs in the Philippines. The loyalty program enables customers to earn reward points when they shop with the SM Group – and it also garners massive quantities of customer purchase and spending data for SM-MCI. In fact, SM-MCI's current data exceeds a billion transactions.

With so much customer data at the ready, SM-MCI knew it was sitting on a gold mine that could yield tremendous business insight – but the sheer size of the data proved to be challenging when it came to garnering useful customer knowledge. The company needed a better way to uncover, analyze and put the information to use.

We have always regarded SAS as a valuable business partner with the dedication and support shown us over the years. We're delighted that SAS continues to be ever-mindful of our needs and commits these into the development of new technologies in analytics.

With the technology in place, SM-MCI could look at patterns in spending, rewards redemption and customer loyalty. The resulting insight would be delivered to affiliate partners, who could then better plan their sales and loyalty strategies.

A fast, intuitive solution

SM-MCI was faced with a huge undertaking: It wanted to fully analyze the more than 200 million customer transactions that were generated on a yearly basis across more than 500 stores. Once SM-MCI learned what SAS Visual Analytics could do, it knew it was the right solution for the job.

SAS not only has unmatched statistical computing power and speed, it also offers an intuitive interface that makes visualizing the information even easier. Plus, it could scale effortlessly from 200 million to more than 1 billion transactions using commodity hardware.

SAS Visual Analytics helped SM-MCI analyze customer data and deliver in-depth reports based on SM-MCI's big data insights. The technology could get the job done without the burden of extensive data planning or ETL reprocessing whenever new variables needed to be added. It was fast, efficient – and delivered the in-depth analysis that SM-MCI needed to meet its goals.

Better analysis leads to better service

With data compiled from its customer loyalty program, SM-MCI can use SAS Visual Analytics to understand buying patterns and identify trends, which leads to better service – and more customer satisfaction. SM-MCI uses its insight to improve the customer experience with relevant, timely offers and promotions. It also can work to acquire new members, reduce churn and identify new up-sell opportunities.

"We have always regarded SAS as a valuable business partner with the dedication and support your team has shown us over the years," says SM-MCI President and Chief Executive Officer Baldwin C. Golangco. "We're delighted that SAS continues to be ever-mindful of our needs and commits these into the development of new technologies in analytics."

Solution

Benefits

In-depth understanding of customer buying patterns and trends.

More relevant promotions to acquire new members and identify profitable up-sell opportunities.

The results illustrated in this article are specific to the particular situations, business models, data input, and computing environments described herein. Each SAS customer’s experience is unique based on business and technical variables and all statements must be considered non-typical. Actual savings, results, and performance characteristics will vary depending on individual customer configurations and conditions. SAS does not guarantee or represent that every customer will achieve similar results. The only warranties for SAS products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements in the written agreement for such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Customers have shared their successes with SAS as part of an agreed-upon contractual exchange or project success summarization following a successful implementation of SAS software. Brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.